Luol Deng led the Bulls in scoring Friday night with 24 points in the Bulls 112-91 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was a good showing for both Deng and the Bulls as a team because when the Bulls can get production in the scoring category in the twenty point range from a player besides Derrick Rose, who will usually give them about 20-25 points (nineteen tonight), they have a good chance of picking up the victory. Rose may not have led the team in scoring but he did provide nine assists to lead Chicago in that category and he also played stellar defensively picking up three steals for the game. Four of five starters had double digit scoring efforts, excluding Joakim Noah and Ronnie Brewer contributed 13 points off of the bench. The Cavaliers only had two players in double digits, Antawn Jamison who had twenty two and Ramon Sessions who scored sixteen. The effort from the Bulls this evening was an impressive one for them because of the solid contributions from every player who played significant minutes on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. When the Bulls are able to score over 100 points they are usually going to pick up the victory because besides the Miami Heat they are arguably the best defensive team in the league. It also helps when you shoot over 52% as a team for the game and hold the opponent to under 44%, as well as grab eight more rebounds and have nine more assists than the other team. The Bulls outshined and out produced the Cavaliers in all areas of the game tonight and more often than not they outshine most of the opponents they play because of the leadership of Rose, the energy they have, and the solid defense that they are able to play.

With this victory the Chicago Bulls pick up victory number thirty on the year to go along with eight losses. The Bulls are the first team to thirty victories on the season and hold a one game conference lead over the Miami Heat who lost to the Utah Jazz tonight. The Bulls defensive effort throughout this season is something that will have to be maintained throughout the course of the rest of the season and into the playoffs if they want to keep racking up the wins and want to beat the Miami Heat in the postseason, if they face them. The Miami Heat have the most talented team in the NBA but the Bulls defense is stingy enough to hold down the Heats offensive numbers and sneak in enough offense of their own to pick up a victory over Lebron James and the Miami Heat. A strong defensive effort, smart offense, and a lot of Derrick Rose is the recipe that will help the Bulls defeat the Heat in a seven game series.